Improvement in invalid-bedsteads



N."PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTONy D. C.

NTTn STATES PATENT MOSES JOHNSON, OF COLEBROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,11 I3, dated October 27, 136i?.

T0 all whom t may concern: I

Be it known that I, MOSES JOHNSON, a resident of Colebrook, in the county of Coos, and State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improved In valid-Bedstead and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which'- Figure l is a top view of it; Fig. 2, a side elevation, Fig. 3 an end elevation, and Fig. 4 a vertical and longitudinal section, of it.

In the construction of this bedstead each of the posts A, is divided crosswisevinto two parts, a b, the four upper portions, a a a a, being connected together by two longitudinal rails, c c, a head board, d, and a foot-board, e,

and so as to constitute a sacliing-frame, Gr.l The four lower portions, b b b b, or what may be termed the leg77 parts ofthe posts, are connected together by two longitudinal and two transverse rails, as seen at fj' g g, the longitudinal rails fj' being so made as to be capable of supporting the slats or other devices usually employed in bedsteads for sustaining the mattress or bedding. Furthermore, 'there is applied to each two ot` the head and foot parts b b of the frame H an auxiliary head or foot board,B G,whicli is sohinged to them,(viz., as shown at h in Fig. 5, which is a top view of the lower or mattress supporting part or frame H,) as to be capable of being turned up into a vertical position above them, and so as to convert the bottom part, H, into a separate bedstead provided with head and foot boards distinct from the main head and foot boards of the upper or sacking-supporting part ofthe bedstead. rEhe upper end of each of the lower portions, b b b b, of the posts may be furnished with a mortise, lo, to receive a corresponding projection or tenon extending from the Sacking-supporting frame or upper portion of the bedstead when placed on the lower or mattress-supporting part. I provide the said sticking-supporting part with an elevator, D, which consists of two parallel bars, l l, a third or connecting bar, n, and a piece of cloth or canvas, P, stretched across them. One end of each oi' the two bars l l, is hinged to one ot' the rails c c. Short posts m m arise from the head ot' the elevator and support a cranked shaft, m2, to which the two ends of a rope, a,is fastened, the middle of the said rope being sustained by a staple, o, tixed in the ceiling of the apartment in which the bedstead may be. By revolving the said shaft the elevator may be raised from a horizontal into an inclined position or may be depressed from the latter, according to circumstances. The sacking further consists ol' another piece of cloth or canvas, q, which extends across the lower half of the sacking-frame and is carried underneath the part p, and hooked or otherwise connected to a staple, r, fixed in the head-board d. The part q, of the sacking being separate from and extending underneath the part p, not only at'- fords additional support to the latter where the greatest weight ot'a person is borne by it, but is to close the opening or passage which is intentionally made between the two parts p q, for the purpose of enabling a bed-pan or other vessel to be introduced underneath the excretory parts of an invalid supported on the sucking. The sacking-fraine of the bedstead is to be suspended from the ceiling of a rooni by means of' two ropes, r2 r2, which extend longitudinally underneath it and at their extremities are attached to four staples, s, inserted in the said ceiling. These ropes, in passing from one set of staples to the other, go around a windlass or cranked shaft, F, which is atiixed to the head part of the sackingframe, and is provided with two projecting hooks, t t, arranged as shown in Figs. l and 4. By looping each rope on one of the said hooks and rotating the shaft F the sacking frame Ot' the bedstead may be either raised or lowered, according to the direction in which the shaft may be revolved. vIt only one ot' the ropes be looped on one ofthe hooks, the sacking'irame will be tipped laterally during the revolution of the shaft. The object of tipping the sacking-frame laterally is/t/o enable an invalid to be turned in bed to advantage, as when the sacking is tipped gravitation will aid in rolling or turning the patient. In this way,when ever it may be' desirable to air or cleanse the sacking he may be rolled and slid oft' the latter and upon the mattress supported by the lower part of the bedstead. The said lower part or mattress-supporting part of the bedstead is to beprovided with casters or rollers to its legs, in order that it may be readily drawn ont from underneath or pushed under the sacking-supporter, as circumstances may iequire-that is to say, in order that the mattress may be either shaken'up or aired, or that a bed-pan or vessel may be applied underneath the exeretory parts of the invalid.

The improved bedstead, constructed as described, can readily be converted into two separate bedsteads, as while the upper portion may support a mattress and bedding, anothermattress and bedding` -inay be applied to the lower portion, in which oase the auxiliary head and foot boards of the lower portion may be turned up relatively thereto, they being turned down when the two portions of the bedstead are used together with an invalid reposing` on the saelring` and the latter resting` on the mattress supported by the lower portion ofthe bedstead.

mattress and saeking frames arranged and combined therewith, substantially as specified.

2. In combination with the bedstead so made, the auxiliary head and foot boards v B G, applied to the mattress-frame in manner and so as to operate substantiall y as described.

3. The mode ot' making and applying the saeking-viz., in two parts, p q, one being applied to the elevatorirame, and the other being fixed to the saelring-frame and extending underneath the elevator l), and hooked to and Connected with the head-boardd, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination ofthe tipping-hooks tt,

or their meehanieal equivalents, with the bed MOSES JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

